


The Club Circus

by Angel_of_Gryffindor



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Blood, Creepy Pennywise (IT), Dead Georgie Denbrough, F/M, Fire Breather Richie, Flashbacks, Fortune Teller Bev, Lion Tamer Mike, M/M, Orphans, Ring Master Bill, Strongman Ben, Swearing, Tarot Cards, Tightrope Walker Eddie, bill trying to be a good leader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 17:43:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 10,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21122735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_of_Gryffindor/pseuds/Angel_of_Gryffindor
Summary: The Club Circus was always in town during the summer, it was how it worked, the moment summer started the big red and white striped tent would roll into town with several brightly painted wagons and before nightfall the music would spread throughout the town.From the outside it seemed like the usual kind of circus, with a clown, ringmaster and even two lions but the performers were what made it different; all the performers were under eighteen, all orphans and all the best of friends.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> I spent a week writing this clique thing, I know it's been done a million times but please enjoy this version :)  
I am going to try and catch all the spelling/grammar mistakes but I'm really sorry if I miss any.  
I'd absolutely love to hear what you think.  
Enjoy

The Club Circus was always in town during the summer, it was how it worked, the moment summer started the big red and white striped tent would roll into town with several brightly painted wagons and before nightfall the music would spread throughout the town.

From the outside it seemed like the usual kind of circus, with a clown, ringmaster and even two lions but the performers were what made it different; all the performers were under eighteen, all orphans and all the best of friends.

Bill was the Ring Master, at seventeen he was the oldest of the group, tall and slim with light brown hair and a serious face; Bill was a born leader and had founded the circus when he was only ten, his only problem was a stutter that manifested when he wasn't performing.

Stan was a Mind Reader, he'd run away from the orphanage with Bill at the same time and had a knack for reading people; he was pale and skinny with dark blond curls and always wore a birds wing badge, the only token left over from his parents.

Richie was a Fire Breather, he was sixteen but tall with long limbs, a dark mop of hair and a foul mouth, the music during his performances had be turned up to an almost uncomfortable level to drown out the swearing.

Beverly was a Fortune Teller, the only girl in the group she never performed in the ring but had her own booth, her fiery red hair covered with a bejewelled veil and bewitching green eyes; she was more popular with the adults coming to the circus.

Mike was the Lion Tamer, dark skinned and strong willed he wasn't afraid of the ferocious beasts that he lead out every night to perform kitty tricks, the only thing he'd never use was a flaming ring, for personal reasons.

Ben was a Strongman, originally he hadn't wanted to perform and had only helped set the tent up believing he'd only ever be just a fat kid but with the encouragement from his new friends, plus a reading from Bev, he slowly increased the weight of the things he lifted and before long he could lift audience members.

Eddie was a Tightrope Walker, he was the youngest at just turned fifteen and the smallest of them all, dark brown hair parted neatly and brightly coloured costumes Eddie was actually afraid every time he climbed that rope but every time he did it because they believed in him.

Lastly was Pennywise the Clown, the only adult, he hadn't so much as joined the Club Circus so much as came with one of the caravans; at first they hadn't wanted the clown to join them because he was creepy with his painted smile and weird eyes but he seemed to be popular.

So the little Club Circus began the new summer with setting up in Maine.


	2. One

"d-don't strain." Bill smiled at his strongman who was setting up the tightrope ladders.

Ben grinned warmly at the taller boy, "I've done this every year at every town, I think I'll be fine."

"statistically the more you do something, the more you're likely to make a mistake, because you're more comfortable and it's easier to let your concentration slip." Eddie rambled from where he was stretching on the floor.

"that's a load of shit and you know it." Richie sighed, "if that were true then I'd be comfortable fucking your mom.."

"beep beep Trashmouth." Bev snapped from her booth, cigarette between her lips.

Richie rolled his eyes, his thick glasses making him look comical, "oh come on, that hardly counts..."

"beep, fucking, beep Richie." Bev said more seriously.

Eddie had zoned out slightly; he'd only become an orphan recently, before he'd lived a reclusive life with a paranoid mother who never let him out but then she'd died, leaving him with nothing until the circus found him.

"ignore him Eds, he can't be trained like most animals." Mike patted the smaller boy on the head on his way passed.

"huh? Yeah, whatever Richie." Eddie gave a breathy laugh and carried on with his stretches.

Bill smiled as he watched the tent become complete, they'd be opening that night, droves of children younger than them and even ones their age would flock through the arch, hand over hard earned pennies for tickets and be surrounded by the magic of the circus.

"so Bevvy, tell me my future!" Richie threw himself onto the little purple stool in front of the red head, stealing her cigarette too, "am I going to meet my future wife this summer?"

Eddie side-eyed the fire breather, his lips forming a thin line as he kept his thoughts to himself, like his mother taught him; to her credit Bev rolled her eyes and didn't unfurl her cards.

"you ask every year, give up." Bev said lightly.

Richie tapped the deck of cards, a dangerous thing to do, "I've touched them now, do my reading." he demanded with a smirk.

Stan was sitting in the dark of Bev's booth, observing his friends, "you're a fool Rich." he said flatly.

Rolling his eyes again Richie waited for the fortune teller to lift the first card, which Bev did reluctantly; Bev didn't like doing readings on her friends, last time she'd pulled 'Unbalanced' for Eddie and the next thing they knew he was plummeting from his tightrope, breaking his arm.

"The Fool." Bev said laying the card on the table, smirking jester turned up.

"bullshit." Richie snapped and stormed off, taking the card with him.

The Club Circus watched their foul mouthed fire breather slam his caravan door; inside Richie was breathing heavily, clutching the card tightly, hating how they could read him so well, hating how the fates thought so little of him too.

"he going to be okay?" Ben asked.

All eyes swivelled to Stan, who ruffled his blond curls and stood, "he just needs a moment to breath, his thoughts aren't level."

"unbalanced." Eddie whispered.

"as l-lo-long as he s-spits that f-f-fire t-tonight, i-it'll be f-f-f-fine." Bill stammered.

Everyone nodded before catching a flash of white going towards Richie's caravan, "stop there Pennywise." Bev snapped, she never trusted the clown.

Pennywise turned sharply to them, a strained smile on his lips, "I was just gunna check on little Richie." he cooed.

"he doesn't need checking on." Ben said sternly.

"not by you." Eddie added, avoiding the clown's swivelling eye.

Ring Leader Bill held up his hands, not wanted them to fall out with their clown the night the circus opened, "go back to your caravan Pennywise. Get ready for tonight." his voice was strong and not a stutter.

There was a collective sigh of relief when Pennywise slunk off to paint on more makeup, "when can we get rid of him?" Mike breathed.

Bill sighed, "when w-we finally find o-ou-ut w-whatever he's-s planning." he gulped, hoping it would never get that far.


	3. Two

The sun was beginning to set and Ben was winding up the big music player, it's old, unique gears sliding together and the wondrous music began to fill the tent, followed by the lights being lit by Eddie and Bill's warm, strong voice.

"Come one, come all! Boys and Girls of all ages come join the club. The Club Circus!" Bill boomed with a wide smile, he looked very impressive in his top hat and bright blue tailcoat, he waved his cane in the air and waved customers in.

Richie stood by his side in a bright red, flame patterned loose trousers, chest painted with flames too, he blew small blazes to attract attention, collecting gasps and 'ooos' from people; out of the corner of his eye he watched Eddie hand out candyfloss and popcorn.

Pennywise stood by the tent entrance giving out bright red balloons to every child and Bev was giving a few early readings to those too eager.

"r-ready?" Bill breathed in the entrance way once the whole tent was full of people; he always feared his stutter would start while he was performing.

Stan, Richie and Ben stood behind their ring leader, they each placed a hand on their friend, "he thrusts his fist against the post, and still insists he sees the ghost." they chanted, Bill had heard the mantra years ago and it had helped him so before every performance he repeated it.

Bill gripped his cane, "he thrusts his fist against the post, and still insists he sees the ghost." before plastering a huge smile on his face and stepping out into the light, "welcome one and welcome all! We welcome each and every one of you to The Club Circus!" cheers erupted from the seats.

The Ring Leader followed his beat for beat what happened every night; after his usual patter with the audience he'd introduce Ben, who chose two audience members to lift as they sat on the ends of a bench and tore apart a pumpkin with his bare hands.

Afterwards was Stan, he rightly read that someone had recently lost a loved on and that there were a pair of star-crossed lovers; Eddie took to the tightrope next, dressed in a purple and white all in one he stepped carefully across the rope, spinning on his toes and balancing various objects.

Richie warmed the tent with great plumes of fire, a sharp swear word falling from his lips each time the flame died, even with his gangly limbs he managed to sweep gracefully across the ring with the flames dancing from his paraffin soaked lips.

Mike's act nearly cleared half the audience as he allowed his lions to walk along the barricade, before putting his gold painted face into one of their mouths; the final act was Pennywise who danced, laughed and bounced around the ring, he was funny and enjoyable, at least to the audience.

The show lasted two hours before the tent was closed and the booths outside were opened again; Bev and Stan did lone readings, Richie was showing off his different coloured flames, Eddie was teaching some smaller children how to walk a very low tightrope, Mike was rattling off facts about his lions while they ripped apart their dinner and Pennywise was doing a silly dance for the children.

Ben had retired to his caravan as he'd felt a twinge in his shoulder when one of the audience he'd lifted had shifted weird but he was glad of the quiet.  
After another two and a half hours the circus emptied, they'd be performing again the next night, with people even coming from surrounding villages to watch, so the locked up and packed away.

"g-good work gu-guys." Bill beamed at them removing his top hat finally, his hair slick with sweat.

"same time tomorrow." Bev winked.

Richie didn't go to his caravan straight away, he wondered around for a while smoking, his throat burning from the paraffin he'd been swilling all night and pocket burning from 'the fool' card; when he'd run away with Bill he'd never expected the feel lonely or left out again but recently he had .

"what's wrong?" Eddie was hanging out of his caravan window, the pastel flowers still decorating his face.

"why would anything be wrong?" Richie dropped the cigarette to the floor and smiled up at his small friend.

Eddie reached out to brush back one of Richie's curls, "want to come in for a drink?" he offered.

Climbing through the window Richie had to be careful not to knock anything over in the small space, his long limbs never quiet seeming to fit, in the end he pretended to lounge comfortably on the bed even if his feet were hanging off the end.

Taking a deep breath Eddie made them both a cup of warm, honey milk and sat on the end of his own bed, "they were a good audience tonight." he commented.

"they're good every night." Richie shrugged, "nobody cute though. Except you." he teased leaning over to pinch a painted cheek.

Eddie batted him away before the other boy could feel the heat in his cheeks; Richie had been the one to find him three years ago, when his mother had died little Eddie hadn't known what to do, she'd never prepared him for the outside world so when he'd ventured into the village he was attacked immediately.


	4. Flashback

"I haven't got any money!" Eddie sobbed as the older boys hands were all over his body, searching for something, leaving cuts and bruises in their wake.

"that's bullshit, pretty thing like you must have something." the older boy was dirty, bared teeth furry and clothes patchy.

After a few moments the group did finally realise that Eddie didn't have anything valuable but still wanted something from him, "cute face like yours could make us a lot of money." one sneered.

Eddie sobbed louder, his arms being held behind him tightly, as they began to rip his clothes; a million different thoughts ran through his young brain and not one offered a way out.

"hey! What the fuck are you lot doing?" came a strong voice; Richie scowled them all still dressed from the morning training, "I think you should let him go."

The group laughed loudly, pulling Eddie to his feet, "why should we shithead?"

Still glaring Richie swigged from his hip flask of paraffin, lit a match and casually blew flames at the group; immediately they scattered, dropping the beaten Eddie to the ground; Richie swilled his mouth out before approaching him.

"you okay? Not from around here?" Richie asked helping pull together the younger boy's torn clothes.

Eddie managed to wipe his face, hands bleeding, "my mommy just died." was all he could think to say, the other boy's big brown eyes were quiet captivating.

"gee I'm sorry kid." Richie felt a little awkward, "look, I haven't got parents either. Come with me." he held out his blistered hand.

"I don't think I should go with a wizard." Eddie muttered and Richie laughed, "what's so funny." he snapped.

Richie smiled at the younger boy, "I'm not a wizard dummy, I'm a fire breather, at the circus."

"circus?" Eddie breathed, he'd read about the circus in a book before but they'd always been filled with adults; without a second thought he took the older boy's hand and followed him wherever he wanted to take him.


	5. Three

Eddie smiled warmly at the memory, Richie hadn't let go of his hand the whole time he'd shown him around the circus and introduced him to everyone, he still had some scars from the attack but he simply refused to look at them.

"this the theme this year?" Richie asked, wiping at the small flowers and pointing at the half made flower crown hanging on the wall.

"it's nice to keep things fresh." Eddie bristled.

Leaning over Richie couldn't resist kissing one of those tiny flowers on Eddie's cheek, "you sure don't smell to fresh." he teased.

"shut up." Eddie shouted, pushing the older boy away but being pulled on top of him instead; chest to chest, bright hot in the face and breathing rapidly, "you absolute embarrassment."

About to reply Richie suddenly noticed a white face peering through the window, wrapping his arms instinctively, protectively around Eddie, "go the fuck away Pennywise." Richie hissed.

Eddie flinched, not daring to move, he really hated that clown but he tried not to let his fear show as he turned to face the uneven eyes of the clown, "what do you want?"

"don't you want to play a game?" Pennywise giggled.

Moving just enough Richie managed to grab hold of the window, ready to slam it shut, a protective arm still around the smaller boy, "not with you." he snarled.

Before he could slam the window shut Richie felt cold, gloved hand wrap around his wrist, "not even, truth or dare?" Pennywise's voice was shrill but quiet, his eye wondering even more and a string of spit hanging from his bottom lip.

"like fuck." Richie pulled his wrist away, "go away." he added before slamming the window shut; for the longest moment the clown continued to stand outside the window, not moving, before twitching slightly and moving along.

Eddie let out a shaking breath, "he's so scary." he shuddered.

"don't let him get to you Eddie Spaghetti, I certainly won't." Richie smiled before lounging back onto the bed; he had no intention of going back to his own caravan if Pennywise was wondering about the camp, he wouldn't put himself or Eddie in danger.

Since the moment he'd laid eyes on the tiny, beaten up Eddie all those years ago Richie had felt the urge to protect him, to encourage and care for the other boy; even though Eddie had lived a life of strained, obsessive love Richie always hoped that maybe his feelings wouldn't go unnoticed.

Richie sighed deeply, the cards were right; he was a fool.


	6. Five

Bill watched from his front step as Pennywise slunk around the caravans, pausing at windows but none of them were open except Eddie's, which was promptly slammed shut by an annoyed looking fire breather.

The night air was warm, the new summer surrounding him, a feeling he never tired of, Bill sighed leaning against the door frame until he heard someone approaching; it was Stan holding a bottle and two cigarettes, he was wrapped in a huge blanket which he instantly shared around the ring leader.

"what are you thinking?" Stan asked handing over a lit cigarette.

"isn't t-th-hat your j-job to k-k-know." Bill chuckled.

For a moment Stan looked sombrely at his oldest friend, "not with you. Come on, what you thinking about?"

Bill glanced behind him, eyeing the little yellow coat hanging by the window, "I-I'm just thinking a-a-ab-about w-when we r-ra-ran away."


	7. Flashback

Bill had been four when he'd come to the workhouse with his newly born brother Georgie; his mother had died during childbirth and his father had committed suicide in depression so the children, with no other relatives, were sent to the workhouse.

The workhouse was dark and depressing, with high dirty windows it was a noisy factory for the orphaned children of the town to make fabrics using the highly dangerous machines.

Georgie was taken off to the nursing hospital till he was three but Bill still saw him once a week, for the first year Bill was very lonely indeed, not to mention terrified of the machines which clunked, whirred and cut his fingers.

Then came Stan, who's parents had been well off but they had fallen on hard times, having to sell everything in their home just to feed themselves until there was nothing left and they had no choice but to enter the workhouse.

The workhouse for adults was on the other side of the town and there was no way of contacting unless someone wanted to walk all that way for a possible meeting; Stan had cried a lot so Bill would creep into the small bed, placing a comforting hand flat on the other boy's back.

"i-i-it'll be o-okay." Bill whispered.

With the bed creaking Stan turned to face Bill, "are you that cold?" he asked with a small sniff.

Bill smiled, feeling the warmth building between them, "it's a-a s-st-stutter."

"it's different. I like it." Stan said softly, gently wrapping a hand around Bill's thin wrist.

From then on the two shared a bed, keeping warm was a bonus, then Georgie slept between them when he arrived at the workhouse and they all worked at the same machine.

When Bill was eight they were joined by another boy, a foul-mouthed child from the streets called Richie, who was full of new words and stories, he was fun and certainly made the days go by a little quicker.

The years that followed weren't enjoyable but they were nice because they had each other, until the fateful day that changed it all.

The workhouse matron had scolded Bill and Richie for swearing when the machine ground to a halt because something had become stuck.

"George will just have to go in and unclog it." the matron sneered.

Shaking all over Georgie did climb into the machine, his tiny body perfect for it but the second the stuck material was unhooked the machine rattled back to life, pulling Georgie's arm into it with a sickening crunch.

The whole ordeal was a blur for Bill; he'd helped pull his baby brother from the machine, his arm missing, the little yellow coat he'd been wearing beginning to be soaked with blood and the matron called for Georgie to be taken away.

It was barely twenty minuets later that Georgie died from blood loss, none of the adults cared and demanded Bill finish his shift before he was allowed to mourn.

That night Bill couldn't stop sobbing, disturbing the other boys but he didn't care, Stan rubbed his back but the tiny bed felt empty without Georgie wriggling about and when Richie appeared holding the blood soaked coat Bill came to a decision.

"I'm l-leaving." he sniffed, wiping his sodden face and shoving a blanket and Georgie's coat under his arm.

"leaving? Where will you go?" Stan was instantly beside him, "you're going to leave us behind?" there was a fear to Stan's words that Bill couldn't bare.

Bill grabbed both Stan and Richie's hands, looking at them in the moonlight, "of course not, I'm not loosing any more family to this place." 

And as they crept out of the high window, careful where they placed their feet, the older boy heard Richie's voice, "he didn't even stutter."

"that's because it's important." Stan replied.

Being children with no life skills they found themselves without food or shelter for a few days till Richie began to sing rude songs in taverns for pennies and Stan ran into a richer lady and told her she should marry the nice boy next door who loved her so dearly, even though he'd never met either of them.

Bill had the idea to use Stan's little gift for reading others into a little money making scheme and it worked surprisingly well; Richie made use of himself by still singing before discovering that he quiet enjoyed playing with fire.

The boys garnered quiet large crowds everyday, especially when Bill discovered his crowd pleasing patter helped his stutter too.

A few months later the three of them bought a caravan together with a small donkey to move to the next town where they met Bev, who had recently escaped from her abusive father, then Mike who was living with a terrible family on a farm after his parents had perished in a fire and then they found Ben living on the streets

With the little club together they each discovered something they could do to attract patrons, "they're like a little circus." someone had laughed and it gave Bill a brilliant idea.  
Working extra had they managed to buy a tent and extra caravans, discovering Pennywise in doing so, and the rest was history.


	8. Six

"it was definitely one of your better ideas." Stan uncorked the bottle, taking a burning swig before passing it to his friend.

Bill took a swig, not wanting to damage his throat, "i-it's hard t-t-to believe s-such j-j-joy came from s-such t-t-tr-tragedy."

"Georgie would be so proud of you." Stan whispered leaning his head on Bill's shoulder and taking his hand.

Even though the summer air was warm Bill always enjoyed Stan's warmth; so the pair sat there in silence, the still mostly full bottle sitting between them, the mind reader knew what his dearest friend was thinking about and it didn't need words.

For the next week the circus performed every night to a full tent, before packing up and moving to their next destination, on the way the circus came across a crystal clear lake.

"let's go swimming!" Bev exclaimed, already stripping out of her flowing dress.

At first only Stan followed, having grown up with money he'd been taught how to swim but the others only dipped in their feet; the sun warm on their backs, the water cooling on their feet it was a calming moment where they all felt like children.

Pennywise was less happy about the stop or the warmth, so he sulked in his caravan; sulked or planned.

"I was thinking..." Richie began as he was skipping stones.

"dangerous, don't hurt yourself." Eddie teased and soon found himself pushed over into the cool water.

Smirking Richie continued, "as I was saying, I was thinking I could do clown tricks. Then we can get rid of you know who." he gestured vaguely over his shoulder at Pennywise's caravan.

Bill glanced to where his fire breather was gesturing, an uneasy feeling in his stomach and was about to say something when they were approached by some older boys who looked like they worked on a farm.

"what y'all doin in ma lake?" the tallest one asked, he had a twisted ugly face and dusty blond hair that needed a good wash and a cut.

"j-just cooling d-d-down." Bill tried to sound strong but he felt a bit puny compared to them.

The older boy's instantly burst out laughing, mocking Bill's stutter before their tiny, mean looking eyes landed on the practically naked Bev.

"lookie Henry, its'a naked girly." the boy with buck teeth giggled.

Ben placed his larger frame in front of Bev, who knew to dip down further, at least for the moment, "she's not for your eyes. If you want to speak to her then come back when the circus is open." Ben snapped, making sure to flex his muscles.

"yeah, so fuck off." Richie added.

Henry and his friends stood for another long moment, taking in each skinny frame before deciding to take their chances; Mike acted first, snatching up a rock from the waterbed he threw it straight for the older boy's face.

The noise made on contact sounded awful but it knocked Henry back, blood immediately blooming from his forehead; within a matter of seconds each of the performers armed themselves with rocks, throwing ones when Henry or the others tried to move towards them.

"you fucking faggot losers!" Henry snarled and lunged forwards despite being hit by the most rocks and bleeding quite a lot; he grabbed Eddie as the smaller boy was reaching for a rock to defend himself with and let out a scream when he was lifted off his feet.

"Eddie!" Richie shouted, going to save his friend but saw the knife pushed against Eddie's cheek.

There was a deranged look in Henry's eyes as he pressed his father's knife to the smaller boy, "you circus freaks are gunna pay for this shit."

"is there a problem?" came Pennywise's giggling voice.

Everyone turned to him, the knife cutting Eddie's cheek but he held back his voice, to see Pennywise not only covered in blood with the two goons unconscious at his feet but still wearing his clown smile.

"what the fuck?" Henry snarled.

Pennywise took a a comical step forwards, his eyes locked on Henry, "they weren't very fun to play with. Do you want to play?" 

The unnerving stare shook Henry a little, his fingers flinched and he loosened his grip on Eddie, "get the fuck away from me!" he waved his knife at the clown.

While the older boy was distracted the circus kids quickly exited the lake, Bill and Richie scooping up the hurt Eddie as they went past and jumped into Bill's head caravan, "let's go clown!" Mike shouted readying the horses.

With stilted, jerking movements Pennywise moved away from an unnerved Henry and back into his own caravan, still covered in blood.


	9. Seven

"that was bloody terrifying." Ben gasped once they'd started moving, "I hope he doesn't turn up at one of our shows."

"I'm a bit more fucking scared of our fucking clown! Did he kill those guys?" Richie snapped as he tried to patch up Eddie's cut cheek.

With shaking hands Bev laid her cards across the bed, flipping three and breathed a small sigh of relief, "they're not dead but the danger isn't gone." the final card was a bright red balloon; a card that had never been in her deck before.

"no shit!" Richie growled.

"we need to get rid of him, what if he hurts us next?" Stan reasoned, his head hurting slightly from everyone's different thoughts.

Bill held up his hands, trying to think, "he just helped us. As much as I hate to admit it we would have been worse off if he hadn't turned up."

"Bill please." Stan took his friends hand, "he's dangerous, I never know what he's thinking."

But it was too late, the circus arrived at their destination and Pennywise the dancing clown would be performing.

The town they set up in next was even bigger, with several villages near by, so the tent was packed full even with those standing, every night they were there; Bev helped someone overcome the loss of a loved one with a reading and Mike met a very nice girl who his lions, Master and Dame, liked too.

"you going to marry her Mike?" Ben teased that night at dinner.

It had taken much longer to get everyone out of the circus so it was nearly midnight by the time the kids sat down to eat.

Mike rolled his eyes, "not likely, unless she's here again next year." he chuckled, "not really in a position to marry."

"shall I see if marriage is on the cards?" Bev asked with a mouth full.

"you never read for my marriage." Richie shouted, an arm around Eddie's waist.

The fortune teller looked over at the loud boy; in truth she had pulled 'The Linked Rings' the day he met Eddie but she never told him and kept the card some place safe, Richie would figure it out on his own.

Bidding each other goodnight Richie thought he was being smooth in climbing into Eddie's tidy caravan, while Bill and Stan sat outside the ring master's having another hot drink.  
"why do you have to be so tiny?" Richie complained taking up most of the bed.

Eddie changed into his comfy clothes, gently touching the scar on his cheek, it felt hot under his fingers but he shook away the memory of Henry and his filthy knife, "you're just too big." Eddie swatted the older boy before climbing in beside him.

Snuggling into the smaller body, taking in the scent of face paint, "never had any complaints yet." he hummed and fell asleep almost instantly.


	10. Eight

Hours later Eddie was woken by Richie climbing out of the bed, his feet heavy and uneven on the floor, "Rich? You going for a piss?" the younger boy asked into the darkness.

Richie didn't reply, he didn't even turn, the door banged open as he shoved it a bit too hard, the sound woke Bill and Stan who had fallen asleep on the steps.

"you got to be that loud?" Stan snapped rubbing his eyes warily.

Once again Richie didn't reply, his dark eyes were glazed over in the moonlight, his footing still uneven as he walked through the caravans.

"Richie? Rich? Where you going?" Eddie followed his friend, trying to get his attention, he spotted the ring master, "he's never sleepwalked before." he panicked.

Stan stood in front of Richie, studying him but his face and mind were blank, like his soul had been snatched from his body, "I don't think this is sleep walking." he said cautiously and allowed Richie to move past him.

The three followed the fire breather into the ring; it was dark and cold, so hollow without a crowd or music, but wherever Richie was heading he could make it out in the darkness and it seemed the destination was the tightrope.

"Richie stop." Eddie rushed forwards but Bill placed his hand on his shoulder.

"you m-mustn't w-w-wake him." Bill warned.

So Eddie followed his friend up the tall ladder, his nerves building without the crowd to cheer him on, but he had to make sure Richie was safe because although graceful on the ground spitting fire, the taller boy had little balance off the ground.

"q-quick g-ge-get the net." Bill requested, "and t-the others." Stan didn't need telling twice as he rushed back to the caravans to wake the circus crew.

With unsteady, bare feet Richie stepped out onto the tightrope, Eddie close behind him, "please come back Richie, this is dangerous. What's gotten into you?" but the fire breather didn't respond.

Below everyone was gathered with the safety net used during practice, squinting up into the darkness to try and see what was going on; suddenly from the darkness came a red balloon, floating silently across the ring before popping loudly and whatever trance Richie was under he snapped out of it.

Richie gasped, like waking from a nightmare, he went to climb out of bed for a cup of water but his legs wobbled and all he felt was air around him; his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness around him, he certainly wasn't in Eddie's caravan anymore.

"Richie, come here please." Eddie pleaded again and let out a sigh of relief when Richie did turn his head towards him.

"w-what the fuck is going on?" Richie gasped, arms out in panic to steady himself, knees nearly buckling, "why am I up here?" there was such panic in the older boy's voice that Eddie had never heard before.

Now that Richie wasn't in a trance or sleep walking Eddie grabbed onto his hand, instructing his friend how to turn carefully but as the smaller boy began to lead Richie back across the rope another lone balloon popped.

Startled Richie lost his footing, hands still clasped tightly in Eddie's the pair fell from the great height, the air being stolen from their lungs and were grateful of the net being held by their friends beneath; unfortunately it seemed the net had been cut at some point and split the moment the boy's weight hit it.

Richie landed heavily on his back, he saw stars and not whimsical stars, bright and sharp stars danced before his eyes; bones rattling and breath coming out in small gasps, he couldn't seem to focus on anything but the pain vibrating through his body and Eddie's smaller one pressed tightly against his own.

"oh god! Richie are you okay?" Eddie panicked, holding his wrist strangely, it throbbed but his friend could be hurt worse.

For the longest moment Richie couldn't find the words, they were stuck in his chest, someone lit a lamp and he saw all his friends leaning worryingly over him, "peachy, fucking, keen." he managed to gasp out but didn't dare try to move. 

For the next several moments Richie lay flat on his back as both Eddie and Mike checked him over for other injuries, his breaths still coming in short bursts, the whole of his back throbbed in pain but wiggled his fingers and toes to make sure they still worked.

"what's the verdict then?" Richie asked finally.

Eddie was now being bandaged up by Mike, wrapping his dark purple wrist tightly, the tightrope walker quickly took one of Richie's hands, "you've been so lucky, nothing broken, you'll just have a ton of bruises."

"so no performing topless then." Richie managed to joke but couldn't laugh for the stinging pain in his body.

"can I ask a reasonable question"? Ben piped up, "what the fuck just happened? Why the hell were you up there." he gestured wildly above them at the tightrope.

With extra effort Richie sat up, his back protested with a burning sensation, "I think I was dreaming." he said slowly, thinking hard about what he'd been seeing before waking up on the rope, "there was this, forest. I was walking through it following a.."

"red balloon." Bev whispered harshly, with shaking hands she pulled the card from her coat.

Stan immediately grabbed Bill's hand, "it was Pennywise! Can't you see that! Please, please Bill get rid of him." he pleaded.

"I-I agree." Bev was still shaking.

Bill didn't know what to do; on one hand all his friends were terrified of the clown, they all had been since Pennywise had joined, but on the the hand the clown brought a lot of money to the circus.

"w-we don't h-ha-have any p-proof it was h-him." Bill finally said and Stan dropped his hand like it had burnt him, "don't f-fa-fall out w-with me."

The Club Circus stared at their ring leader with open mouths, the air around them suddenly thick and Bill waited for the shouting, there was always shouting when he tried to make a decision.

"are you fucking kidding me Bill!" Stan snapped before storming off back to his caravan, the sound of the slamming door echoing through the darkness.

"think about this Bill, everything points to.." Bev tried but the ring leader held up his hands.

"I-I-I have." Bill said firmly, a heavy feeling in his stomach, but he couldn't risk his biggest money maker on an accusation; as crazy as Pennywise was he'd never turned on them.

With a burning glare Bev grabbed both Ben and Mike's hand, who in turn helped Richie off the floor, his hand still tightly clenched in Eddie's; the circus performers went to leave before Richie stopped dead in his tracks and turned back to the ring leader.

"what are you waiting for exactly? For him to kill one of us?" the fire breather snarled.

Bill sighed, he had to stand his ground, "w-we can't j-j-just assume.."

"he practically killed those fucking kids the other day and I just woke up at the top of the fucking tightrope!" Richie yelled, his lungs burning with effort, "he's always sniffing around Eddie and Bev. You're putting us in danger."

"I saved you all from your shitty lives!" Bill shouted back unable to contain himself anymore.

Despite the crippling pain in his body Richie lunged for his friend, "fuck you Bill! You'll kill us all!" he screamed and took a swing of the ring leader's face, only to miss.

On instinct Bill swung out, catching Richie's face and sending him tumbling backwards into the others, blood immediately flowed from the fire breather's nose, "what are you doing? He's already hurt!" Eddie exclaimed.

With a tug Bev lead them out of the dark tent, leaving Bill alone with Richie's blood on his knuckles and a fear of loneliness surrounding him; for the first time in a long time Bill went to bed alone, normally Stan would be by his side or Bev would already sitting on his bed for a talk.

"am I making the right choice?" Bill asked himself as he sat on his bed, Georgie's coat clutched tightly in his arms; sure he was unnerved by Pennywise too but the clown had never hurt any of them, he'd protected them sometimes just by being an adult.

The caravan door creaked slightly, Bill's heart leapt that Stan had come to talk to him but instead Pennywise's white face popped in, "what's wrong Billy boy? I heard shouting." he cooed.

"it w-was just a-a-a little fight." Bill said like he hadn't just watched two of his friends fall from a great height and then punch the most injured one.

"aww." Pennywise was too tall to fit properly in Bill's caravan but he still slunk forwards and placed a hand on Bill's slightly shaking shoulders, "they just don't understand what it's like to be a leader."

Bill felt uneasy, "I-I do-don't know a-about that." he moved away from the clown but there wasn't any room, he was pressed tightly against the wall, "we'll f-f-figure it o-out."

"they don't understand you Billy, they don't care what you've worked so hard to build up." the clown's voice was low and steady, almost hypnotising, "they're putting all the pressure on you, how cruel of them. They'll never understand the sacrifices you made Billy, they'll never truly understand what you've been through."

Bill tried to argue back but he felt lightheaded, breathless the longer Pennywise talked those soothing sounding words, he was vaguely aware that he wasn't telling his limbs to move and yet he was getting up from the bed and leaving the caravan.

It felt like he was floating in a jar of water, the lid on tight, unable to breath properly or think clearly, being tossed about without a conscious movement.

Though his fogged vision Bill was able to make out Master and Dame's cage, the red and gold bright even in the darkness; the magnificent beasts were fast asleep, snoring loudly, but at the sound of their cage being unlocked they both perked up.

"time to play kitty kittys." Pennywise's voice was the only clear thing as the cold feeling surrounding Bill was replaced with something thick, the tainted smell overwhelming his senses but all he could do was slowly pull open the cage door.


	11. Nine

Stan angrily packed random things into a bag before tipping them out again to start again, he was so furious with his friend having taken that crazy clown's side over his friend's safety; every time he packed something it reminded him of Bill.

They'd been together for so long, Bill had saved him from the loneliness when he'd first arrived at the workhouse, he was the reason Stan had the friends he did and had given him his whole life; being able to read people had been easy, people wore their hearts on their sleeves, giving away their lives as long as he knew what to look for.

Stan couldn't do that with Bill because he'd been there for most of Bill's life but now he had no idea what his friend was doing; was the ring leader simply trying to save the circus, their livelihood or did he actually believe Pennywise wasn't any danger to them.

Giving up on packing the mind reader sat heavily on his bed, tears springing to his eyes, he didn't want to leave, Stan had nowhere to go but he was scared of dying by the clown's hands.

Suddenly there was a low, rumbling growl of Mike's lions outside, Stan frowned; the lions never growled when they were in their cage, normally they were happily fed and asleep, they only growled in the ring because Mike had trained them to.

The growls were cut up by Pennywise's manic laughter, the sound made Stan panic and he leapt to his feet to investigate with a juggling club in hand; both lions were out of their usually locked cage licking and tearing at a lump of meat at their feet, obviously having broken out and raided their dinner crate.

There was no sign of the clown but Stan could hear his manic giggling coming from somewhere on site.

"Mike! Master and Dame are out!" Stan shouted towards the lion tamer's caravan.

However Ben's door opened, light spilling out into the night, illuminating what the lions were up to; it was like all the air left Stan in one forceful push, his hand flew to his chest as his heart stopped in terror.

Laying beneath the lions was a glassy eyed and blood covered Bill, his prone body allowed the big cats to roughly lick his skin and tear at both skin and clothes.

"B-Bill!" Stan shouted, stumbling out of his caravan, frantically stumbling towards the lions but Mike pushed him back slightly.

"no! Bad Dame. Bad Master. Hisss." Mike shouted firmly, hissing sternly and clapping his hands; the lions instantly fell back, trained well, their muzzles covered in blood and climbed back into their cages looking terribly guilty.

Falling roughly to his knees before the cage was secure properly Stan felt tears burning in his eyes and lump in his throat; he'd never seen Bill like that, damaged and helpless, it was terrifying not know what to do.

Stan didn't know where to touch for comfort, it looked like Bill was frozen where he lay bleeding out onto the grass, "Bill? Bill wake up." Stan begged; it was like what had happened with Richie.

"here." Bev was there holding a bright red balloon and tried to pop it but her nails weren't sharp enough; Stan didn't even think twice in removing his winged pin and stabbing it violently into the object.

The bang echoed, causing Richie and Eddie to appear too, and instantly Bill took a shuddering breath, his body twitching as if coming to life for the first time and his big eyes filled with tears.

"P-p-p-p-p-pennyw-w-wise." Bill gasped, the twitching quickly morphed into violent shuddering, despite the warm air it was like the ring leader had been left out in the snow.

Anger clenched Stan's body, "I'm going to kill that fucking clown." he hissed but Bill's hand shot up to grip his wrist; there were puncture marks all down Bill's arms from sharp teeth and instantly there were tears back in the mind reader's eyes.

"holy shit, let me help." Eddie dropped to his knees with arms full of bandages and tonics for cleaning.

"believe us now arsehole?" Richie said flatly, his face bruised from the earlier punch.

"not now trashmouth." Bev rolled her eyes.

A shuddering sob escaped Bill's lips, he was still twitching all over and his mind was thrown into a panic; he'd been so delusional that he'd been willing to put all his friends in danger, he'd made the incorrect decision, he was a bad leader and friend.

Suddenly Stan was gently brushing blood soaked hair from the ring leader's face, running his fingers smoothly across the terrified face, "shh, it's okay. Calm your thoughts, you're not making any sense." the mind reader hummed.

Eventually Eddie had finished cleaning and bandaging up the ring leader, it had been a little harder since the smaller boy couldn't move his wrist, and Mike and Ben gingerly helped Bill back to his shaking feet.

"I'm so sorry guys." Bill managed to say leaning heavily on his friends, voice hoarse and there were thick tears in his eyes.

Even Richie, who was still furious with Bill, felt his anger dissolve at the sight of their fearless ring leader sobbing, "don't cry Bill, you're an ugly crier."

"beep beep." Bev hissed as she went to hug Bill, careful of his injuries.

The Club Circus gathered in Bill's caravan, squeezing uncomfortably into the space, especially with three of them injured; Bill ended on the bed with Stan, sitting between the mind reader's legs; on the other end of the bed was Richie and Eddie, the younger boy had his leg swung over Richie's to avoid hurting him; Ben sat in front of the door, keeping it firmly closed while Bev sat in front of him laying cards out on the floor, each one a red balloon; Mike was trying to make hot drinks for them all but there was only two cups in the whole caravan.

"what's the plan then?" Ben asked finally.

Bill slowly rubbed his new injuries, they had all started to sting but the burning pain that came when he touched them was intoxicating, eventually Stan grabbed both of his hands.

"we need rid of that clown." Eddie said in a small voice.

Everyone hummed in agreement but nobody knew how to go about getting rid of a psychotic clown.

"let's just stab him in the face!" Richie snapped making the violent gesture.

Bev flipped a card, expecting a red balloon, but was met with 'The Lovers', "we need to do it together." she said slowly, "he wants us to be vulnerable but if we stick together, properly, then we can beat him."

"you mean, kill him?" Stan asked softly, a quiver in his voice; for all his shouting that he'd kill the clown for hurting Bill, it was a scary thought to kill another.

"yes, no, I don't know." the fortune teller turned back to her cards but they had turned back to red balloons.

Bill looked closely at his friends faces, tired and worried, "he'll b-b-be p-pissed once he s-se-sees I'm not d-dead."

"that must have been why he went for you." Eddie mused, "because you helped save me and Richie."

"I'm amazed he hasn't snapped already." Mike sighed finally handing Bill a hot drink.

The ring master nearly dropped the drink, and not just because his fingers had been bitten, "we n-nee-need to m-make him snap!" he exclaimed, "du-during a show. The-they'll lynch h-h-him."

"wouldn't that put loads of people in danger?" Ben asked nervously.

From the floor Bev held out her deck of cards for them all to touch and turned over her last three cards; 'Three Cups', 'Strength' and 'Death'.

Leaning over Richie winced at the reading, "that doesn't look good."

"death stands for new beginnings." Stan said.

Despite the shooting pain through his torn up body Bill stood with confidence, "we need a plan."


	12. Ten

If Pennywise was furious that Bill, Richie and Eddie were all still alive come morning he didn't let it show on his painted face; the kids didn't hide their injuries, Richie made a show of getting Bev to paint over his bruises out in the open instead of his caravan.

Bill sat by Master and Dames cage, gently touching their fluffy heads to show he wasn't scared of them, even though he could still feel their teeth sinking into his skin.

For that nights performance the ring leader allowed Eddie to paint over the damage on his face, everything had to seem normal, if they wanted their plan to work and be rid of the clown.

"W-welcome everyone!" Bill smiled brightly despite his stutter showing his nerves; beside him Richie was spitting out bigger plumes of fire, his entire body had been painted to cover all his injuries but the flinch on his face whenever he moved gave away how much pain he was really in.

"Bill." Stan whispered as they stood in the entrance way to the ring, ready to start the show; he took both of the Ring Master's hands and pressed their foreheads together, Stan was scared.

Scared of them failing, scared of losing Bill but he needed to be confident and strong, at least appearing to be, "he thrusts his fist against the post, and still he insists he sees the ghost." Stan said instead.

Bill basked in his dear friend's warmth but felt the cold fingers shaking, "don't leave." he whispered pressing a barely there, cherished kiss on the cheek and went out into the ring.

The show started perfectly fine, the crowd were full of laughter, packed into every inch of the tent; Mike made an extra show of how ferocious they could be but also how gentle the pair were.

"now for a special treat! Not only do we have the forever tiny, forever graceful Eddie way up high on the tightrope!" Bill waved his cane up towards the tightrope to where Eddie was already waiting wearing a broad smile and flower crown, "but also our ever glorious fire breather Richie!" 

A spotlight fell on Richie who was standing on the other side, the crowd erupted into applause and then fell into anticipated silence waiting for the boys to step onto the rope.

Richie felt a bit sick being back up on the tightrope after his fall barely twenty-four hours ago but one look at the pastel coloured Eddie, giving him an encouraging smile, at the other end he took a long, deep breath and stepped out.

It was different watching the younger boy perform on the same level, almost captivating that Richie had to force himself to concentrate, spitting out plumes of bright fire into the air above them while Eddie spun himself towards the older boy.

"ready?" Eddie whispered once he reached Richie; part of the plan was to tempt Pennywise, to make themselves as vulnerable as possible.

Taking a swig of his paraffin Richie held out his hands for Eddie to take before lifting the smaller boy above his head into a handstand, Eddie lit a match, holding out for Richie to ignite and felt the seering heat from the flame coming from his lips.

From the darkness of the tent, climbing slowly and steadily up the ladder was Pennywise, Eddie saw him first as he stood on the podium, the gleaming eyes staring through the dark at them; in a quick movement the tightrope walker removed his flower crown, the signal to Bill.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls! Pennywise the Dancing Clown!" Bill announced in his loudest voice and Ben swivelled the spot light to the motionless clown.

The crowd clapped loudly as the music changed to Pennywise's more upbeat music; Richie set the younger boy down carefully onto the rope, Eddie placed the flower crown on the fire breather, below them Mike, Bev, Stan and Ben were holding net, ready to catch them.

Pennywise had only frozen for a moment before he beamed, giggled and began to dance upon the podium, shaking the entire structure; the tightrope had been set up for Eddie so they had been pushing it with adding Richie's weight, let alone a fully grown, dancing adult.

"you go first, be ready to catch me." Eddie whispered before back-flipping across the rope.

Richie felt a terrible throbbing across his back from even thinking about jumping from the rope but there was a plan in place and he'd be dammed if he had to spend one more night in the company of that clown.

Swigging from the paraffin Richie turned, held out his arms and let himself fall from the rope, spitting out flames as he plummeted through the air; landing in the net Richie was flipped back out in a fiery tumble and back to his feet to the thundering applause.

Eddie readied himself to copy the fire breather but the demonic clown gave an extremely hard jump, making the rope wobbly and Eddie had to brace himself quickly.

"Ho ho! Who wants to see a trick?" Pennywise giggled, suddenly holding seven red balloons and a pin.

"the fuck is he doing?" Richie breathed, all the circus performers held their breath as they watched from the ground, "get down here Eds."

Chuckling and making funny noises Pennywise slowly raised the pin to the first balloon, it burst loudly and a bird flew from it; the second one turned into flowers and then the pin was gone.

Eddie reacted too slowly, he felt the stabbing pain in the back of his knee too late and his legs buckled under the intrusive pain; only just managing to grab the tightrope Eddie dangled a little helplessly as the blood seeped quickly through his pale clothes.

There were sudden whispering from the crowd, it seemed to audience had started to figure out that something wasn't right but that is what Bill wanted; for Pennywise to show his true colours.

With a sharp breath Eddie pulled himself into a handstand upon the tightrope, he gently placed down his none injured leg to gingerly pull out the pin with shaking fingers; it was an old rusted needle now completely dripping in Eddie's blood.

Not wanting to spend any more time in the ir with the clown the tightrope walker flipped himself into free fall, not caring in the moment if his friends were ready to catch him; luckily they were and he finally tumbled into Richie's waiting arms.

"are you okay?" Richie whispered.

"no I'm not fucking okay." Eddie hissed through a smile.

The audience were still silent, intently watching Pennywise; the clown's usually beaming face had twisted into a grimace, he slid down the ladder in one swift movement and stalked towards the circus kids in an almost comical way.

"don't you want to play?" Pennywise asked, his voice shrill and his eyes roaming from one performer to the next; he'd snapped like they'd hoped, "don't you want to float?"

Bill stood tall, trying to put his friends behind him, "time to show your true colours clown. We're not afraid."

The clown gave a strained, high pitched laugh as he continued to stalk towards them, "why should you be afraid? I'm just Pennywise. The happy, dancing, clown!" he leapt at them like a wild animal going in for the kill.

Several audience members screamed, standing from their seats in alarm, as Pennywise snatched Bev and sinking his teeth deep into her shoulder; the fortune teller's blood gushed from Pennywise's grinning mouth as Bev screamed loudly.

Ben acted on instinct, grabbing Pennywise by the jaws, prying them open to release Bev before shoving the clown as hard as he could; Pennywise tumbled backwards, Bev's blood splatting across the dusty ground and he rounded on the circus kids on all fours.

"what's the matter? Too real?" Pennywise cackled and leapt at them again, Bill put himself in the line of attack.

Pennywise's hands were cold around his neck, squeezing tightly and continuing to squeeze till Bill was spluttering, gasping for air and seeing a bright light; suddenly the grip weakened, allowing the ring leader's sight to come back.

Sticking out of the clown's manic eyeball was a bird wing pin badge, with a shriek he dropped Bill and pulled the pin from his eye, readying another attack but the circus kids scattered out of his way and into the empty seats.


	13. Eleven

All the audience had fled in terror and Bill hoped maybe one of them would inform the police but he wasn't holding out hope; the ring leader grabbed Stan's hand as they climbed over the seats, on the other side of the tent Ben had slid both himself and Bev under the flaps so he could wrap her wound; Mike had gone to release Master and Dame, their loud roars might help ward away the clown.

After helping Eddie over the barricade Richie was pulled backwards before he could even lift his leg to climb over too; Pennywise pulled the fire breather close to his blood soaked face, an eye wondering, "should have saved yourself." he giggled.

Richie slammed his hand flat onto Pennywise's face in a desperate attempt to push the clown away, "I'll always save him first." he hissed back but the grip wasn't wavering.

"shame he'll never love you back, what a dirty little secret you have, but I know it. I know it." Pennywise giggled manically, "he tolerates you, thinks he still owes you for saving him. Pathetic that you cling to that warmth."

The fire breather didn't want the clown's word to mean anything, he scrunched his eyes up tightly and tried to block out the words but they were words that had already been in his brain, it made it real with another saying it; even if it was a demonic, crazy clown.

With slow, steady fingers Pennywise took the paraffin from Richie's belt and poured it over the boy's head, soaking him instantly, "let's give you some fitting warmth." he giggled and lit a match.

"no!" Eddie screamed as he pushed the thick, sharp tent peg into Pennywise's side.

Stumbling back Pennywise didn't have time to recover before he found a weight slammed onto his chest, a decorative crystal ball smashed against his skull, a cane hit the tent peg further into his side and finally a lions teeth in his leg.

"wake up moron." Eddie whispered and pressed his lips to Richie's soaked ones, "when did you even listen to that fucking clown?" he kissed him again.

The moment Richie's eyes came back into focus the tent was filled with a loud whistle and several police officers came rushing in, guns and batons raised as they took in the scene before them.

"call off the lion please." one of the officers asked Mike as Dame was still chewing happily on Pennywise's leg.

It took several shackles to restrain Pennywise, even with his head and side injuries, "you aren't rid of me!" he shouted as they carted him away, "I'll have you all, just wait. Wait five years, wait twelve, wait twenty-seven. I'll have you." the doors of the wagon were slammed in his painted face and the manic, deranged laughter echoed across the circus as Pennywise was taken away.

Finally the circus was silent as the performers stood hand in hand at the tent entrance, not quite believing what they'd just done but they were rid of Pennywise.

"I don't think anyone is going to want to come to the circus." Ben said softly.

Bill swallowed painfully, his throat a dark purple, "we d-don't know th-that." 

"maybe now there's no mad clown we'll get more people." Bev injected.

"only time will tell." Mike said.

Bill didn't want to close the circus but maybe Ben was right, their reputation was tarnished by the incident, he knew that much and word would spread quickly of a crazy clown, injured kids and an unstable circus nobody in their right mind would visit.

Stan gently laid his head on Bill's shoulder, "whatever happens we'll be together right?"

With the smallest of tugs the ring leader pulled everyone in for a hug, it was awkward because their injuries but it was comforting, "I promise we'll always be together." Bill whispered.

That night they burnt Pennywise's caravan, not even daring to open it and find out what the clown had inside, fearing what they'd find; the kids sat by the blazing heat of the fire wrapped in blankets and eating slowly; Eddie and Mike had helped clean and wrap up everyone's injuries.

Richie disappeared for a moment before returning with Bev's deck of cards, he didn't pass it to her immediately, instead he got each of the kids to touch the cards before finally handing them to the fortune teller, "so, what's for the future?"

Bev laid out three cards; 'The Sun', 'The Stars' and 'Linked Rings', she smiled and lent slightly into Ben beside her, "all good things."


	14. One Year Later

There was warm whispering coming from the illuminated ring, the sweet smell of cotton candy and popcorn wafting through the summer air and the tinkle of the cranked up music box seemed little more than background noise.

"r-ready?" Bill whispered, hand clasped tightly in Stan's, matching silver rings glinting on their fingers.

Ben and Mike stood on one side, painted and waiting for their performances, Bev and Richie on the other side, Eddie was already waiting at the top of the tightrope; on their middle fingers they each wore a small coloured glass ring, each colour signifying each of them.

After the events in the ring the previous year Richie had finally confessed his feelings for Eddie, as mixed up as his words came out the younger boy had felt the same so they now wore matching gold rings with their initials carved into the metal.

Stan had confessed on drunken, rainy night sitting on the steps of Bill's caravan, unable to hold it in any more; they'd kissed slowly till the chill from the rain had become too much and they'd gone inside to warm up.

Upon coming back to the same village Mike had met up with the girl he'd met last time, she'd pined for him and had turned down a few marriage proposals in hopes he'd remember her; even Master and Dame had mated so there was now two tiny cubs to take care of.

Ben hadn't know how to confess to Bev, so he wrote poem after poem in hopes she'd understand, of course Bev already knew; she'd read his cards and they shouted his love loud and clear.

"he thrusts his fist against the post, and still insists he sees the ghost." The Club Circus chanted before Bill stepped out into the ring, met with wild applause.

The Club Circus hadn't failed, it had survived and flourished now there was nothing to scare them, nothing to hold back; just like it's performers who had never been closer, never been happier, never been more in love with their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the story and will leave a kudo or comment


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